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Cleaning tank after ich

11968 Views 6 Replies 3 Participants Last post by  Cassandra90, 
Cassandra90
I posted this in the disease thread too just figured to post it here, maybe more will see it.


I have a 55 gallon tank that I had a battle of ich with at least 6 months ago. Since then I have not done anything with the tank after all my fish died.

I want to start it back up. It has been still running, just no water changes like I should of, just after all the fish died, back to school and working full time I had no time for it.

Anyways... I am planning on cleaning it out this weekend. I want to get new filter media, throw all decor out and get new decor, and I was going to keep the same gravel.

Question is... Can I take the old gravel and place in buckets and clean with boiling water to rid of any ich? Or any other advice on cleaning?

I am planning on letting the tank re-cycle again before adding fish. I would like to change it into a goldfish tank.

Thank you in advance!


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F
keep the tank running, i have heard (if i remember correctly) the ick should die out on it's own if there are no fish in the tank for the parasite to feed from within a month.

otherwise natural cures, ... turn the heat up in the tank, 84-86F should kill it within a few days (even if there are fish) pushes their metabolism past it's ability to survive

both would be a bonus to ensure your tank is safe.

easier than cleaning :)

boiling your water & sterilizing everything is ... you'll kill what you don't want, but you'll also kill what you do want.

if the tank has been empty for any period of time, great, ... if not, take the time to landscape, plant, keep it healthy till enough time has passed that the ich is guaranteed to have gone, ... after that get fish you want.
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jaysee
Parasites need a host to survive, and will die out within two weeks without a host. That's why the heat treatment is for 2 weeks. 84 is not warm enough for the heat treatment - has to be at least 86, and its better to be higher than lower. The heat treatment takes longer than a few days. One will see improvement after a few days, but really it takes up to a week. By 5 days the fish should be almost spot free, if not totally spot free. From there it's important to maintain the heat to ensure that everything has died. The heat treatment works by the temp preventing the parasite from completing it's life cycle and the duration more or less starves them to death.

Boiling is totally unnecessary. Allowing something to air dry will kill the parasites.
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Cassandra90
Well the aquarium has been without fish for at least a few months now.
Do I need to do anything with the filter media?
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F
sounds good to me
what fish do you want to put in your tank ?
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jaysee
You're safe then. If the media has been kept wet then there's a good chance that you still have enough bacteria to not have to redo the cycle from scratch. Doesn't mean you can fully stock your tank at once, but stocking slowly shouldn't be a problem.
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Cassandra90
Thank you. I am planning on doing a deep clean still and keep it empty for awhile until I get it how I want it then add goldfish slowly to the tank.
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